Four Toyota sales subsidiary employees were arrested Tuesday on charges they filed false reports to the government on the sales of used cars, police said.
Toyota Motor Corp. declined to comment on the arrests but apologized for the troubles its subsidiary had caused.
Earlier in the day, police had searched the subsidiary, Osaka Toyota, company officials and police said. The subsidiary, which operates about 60 outlets, has been under police investigation for allegedly overstating sales figures for used vehicles.
The arrests at Toyota's Japan sales subsidiary are a further embarrassment for the company, which is the world's second biggest automaker behind U.S.-based General Motors Corp.
It recently promised to strengthen corporate responsibility and quality control after its image was tainted by an investigation, in which three Toyota officials are suspected of failing to carry out recalls on a faulty steering part, which may have caused a 2004 head-on accident that injured five people.
Toyota has also had a recent surge in recalls, partly because of its cost-cutting efforts that use the same parts on more models.
Toyota faced a sexual harassment lawsuit in the U.S. against the former head of Toyota's U.S. unit. Toyota settled the lawsuit in August under undisclosed terms.
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